Have you ever wondered what a day in the life of a city councillor looks like, or what the roles and responsibilities of a school board trustee are? Then you need to join us on April 22 as we host City Hall and School Board 101!

These two separate sessions are designed to give you insight into what life as a city councillor and school board trustee looks like.

City Hall 101

9:00AM – A Day in the Life of a City Councillor, hosted by Ward 1 Councillor Andrew Knack

10:00AM – Responsibilities of a City Councillor, hosted by the Office of City Clerks

School Board 1011:00PM – A Day in the Life of a School Board Trustee, hosted by EPSB Board Chair Michelle Draper

The goal of this campaign school is to give candidates a foundation upon which they can continue to build their campaign. Workshops are set up for the candidate and her campaign manager but don’t worry if you don’t have one yet-this is still a great opportunity for you learn and network with other women running.

Tix are a $20.00 deposit per person but attendees will be refunded upon attendance to the campaign school. Tickets must be purchased online, there will be no tickets available at the door.

Kim Krushell is the President of E.P. Rees Inc., a Canadian startup company created to manage the development of software products, such as Lending Assist and Save Assist, that introduce innovation to the area of business loan transactions.

She is also the Chair of the Blatchford Business Advisory Group. Blatchford is being planned as the largest Net Zero sustainable development project in the world. Kim is the Vice-Chair of a new women’s initiative called Women & Money http://www.wamcan.ca which is reaching out to all women regarding financial empowerment.

Prior to E.P. Rees Inc. Kim served 3 terms as an elected City Councillor for the City of Edmonton in Ward 2. As a City Councillor Kim founded Edmonton’s Next Gen, championed neighbourhood renewal, chaired numerous Boards and Committees.

Preparing for a Crisis facilitated Catherine Keill

Catherine Keill has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communications, public relations, government relations and public policy in public, private, and not-for-profit sectors, and notably, is one of the only Alberta government relations professionals who has worked in all three orders of government.

In her career, Catherine has held senior executive positions in municipal, provincial and federal offices. She has also held the position of Group Leader of Public Affairs for Alberta and Senior Account Director at Hill+Knowlton Strategies in the Edmonton office. For several years, she was the Director of Communications and Partnerships for a national not-for-profit association.

Equal Voice is proud to announce our #YEGparity Speakers Series. The series will take place from April through August 2016, with the goal of inspiring, encouraging, and motivating women to run for office.

We want to thank all of you for your continued support of Equal Voice Alberta North. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to send us an email at evabnorth@gmail.com

Don’t have a babysitter? Don’t let that stop you from joining us! While we cannot offer babysitting services, we will have a designated kid’s zone featuring games and activities to keep younger kids entertained.

Having a clear vision for your term in office is an absolute must – that vision is the guiding light that will lead you through the many twists and unexpected turns of political life.

Catrin Berghoff and Natalie Cox are veteran campaigners who have tackled elections at all levels of government and will lead participants through a workshop session on the keys to developing a relatable and deliverable platform.

Natalie Cox came to politics through her interest and work in the human services field. Natalie believes that public policy, political environments and societal norms are primary contributors to the well-being of people. Her focus on policy analysis, political campaigning and social change shapes her work; to increase well-being of families by understanding and changing their environment and developing their capacity.

Natalie has 15 years of volunteer experience working with marginalized people, including over two years of service in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has been involved in political campaigns for over a decade at all levels of government, from door-knocking to financials to ghost writing for candidates and developing platforms and policies as the campaign management team.

Natalie currently works for The Family Centre as supervisor in the Family Preservation program. She is a consultant and principal at Haubner Motshaw Consulting Ltd.

Catrin Berghoff is an adult educator and project manager by training. She currently splits her time between the non-profit sector and running her own business, Haubner Motashaw Consulting Inc. She has been working behind the scenes in electoral politics for over a decade and believes that the secret to a successful campaign is striking the right balance between creating great processes and systems and then ignoring them. Despite her political nature, she has never been a member of any political party.

This session will try to prepare you for the difficulties that a modern campaign can bring in the age of media and social media—especially for women. Our expert panel will talk about their experiences and suggest strategies for handling some of the bad stuff women can encounter on the campaign trail and while in office.

Deborah Drever, MLA, Calgary

Deborah Drever was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Alberta as the Member for the constituency of Calgary-Bow on May 5, 2015.

She currently serves as a member of the Standing Committee on Private Bills, the Standing Committee on Families and Communities and the Select Special Ethics and Accountability Committee.

Born and raised in Calgary, Ms. Drever is enrolled at Mount Royal University, where she is working towards a bachelor of arts degree in sociology.

Throughout her postsecondary studies she has been active in various human rights organizations. She is a member of a feminist collective, and she shares in discourse focusing on women’s issues in Alberta.

Also active within her community, she has volunteered with a variety of not-for-profit organizations around Calgary since the age of eight. She has devoted over a decade to supporting the Calgary Folk Music Festival and has worked for over five years with GlobalFest, an international event that features fireworks displays and celebrates cultural diversity. Ms. Drever has also canvassed for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, the Canadian Diabetes Association and the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

She enjoys advocating for social justice and experiencing Calgary’s vibrant arts community. Her hobbies include hiking, skiing, travelling and learning new languages.

Karen Leibovici, consultant

Karen Leibovici is a four-term Edmonton City Councilor, two-term Alberta MLA and past-President of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities.

She was first elected to the Legislature in 1993 representing Edmonton Meadowlark and held that seat for two terms until 2001. She was then elected to Edmonton City Council and re-elected three more times. While on Council Karen served as chair or vice-chair of the community services, executive and transportation and public works committees, and the Edmonton Police Commission. She was also influential in spearheading Edmonton’s 10-year plan to end homelessness, revitalize retail in west Edmonton and through her leadership on the FCM she brokered a 53-billion-dollar infrastructure plan with the federal government for funding municipal projects across the country.

Along the way Karen worked with news media – lots of it. She has spent a lifetime working with media as a politician and brings first-hand experience to the interview. She has also experienced the power and influence of social media and now spends part of her time training municipal politicians to understand and harness this relatively new medium.

Linda Trimble, professor, political science, University of Alberta

Linda Trimble received her Ph.D. from Queen’s University in 1990, and has been teaching Canadian politics and gender politics in the Department of Political Science since 1989. Her current work is on media representations of Canadian party and electoral politics and women political leaders. She’s presently writing a book called Ms. Prime Minister: Media, Gender and Leadership. Reporting about Canada’s women premiers will likely be her next area of scholarly investigation. She retains a long-standing research interest in women’s representation in Canadian politics, and recently co-edited a book on this topic, called Stalled.

Leila Daoud, CEO, Dynamite PR

Leila Daoud has conducted more than 1700 interviews in her career as a public relations professional. She became interested in public relations after her internship in the House of Commons. Leila has advanced public relations training from the University of Alberta, Mount Royal University and NAIT. She is a nationally published author, guest speaker at universities and conferences and an award winning marketer. In her work for international NGOs, municipal governments and law enforcement services, Leila trained thousands of people to effectively use traditional and social media to their advantage.

BONUS SESSIONSeptember 10, 2016: Women in Leadership Bonus Session

Three hour presentation by Kim Armstrong, Deputy Minister for the Status of women

Andrew KnackAndrew was born in Edmonton, raised just west of the City in Spruce Grove and has lived in Ward 1 since 2001. Andrew received his Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Alberta in 2006 and managed a retail business based in the ward until being elected.

He is a strong advocate of our community league system and served on both the Meadowlark and Jasper Park Community Leagues. Andrew currently serves as the Council representative on the City of Edmonton Youth Council and Edmonton NextGen. He is also responsible for three Council Initiatives – Seniors, Transit and Post-Secondary.

Andrew is honoured to have the opportunity to serve the people of Ward 1 and the rest of Edmonton

Heather MacKenzie
Heather MacKenzie works in government relations as a Senior Associate with the Alberta Counsel. She was a federal NDP candidate in the 2015 election, a Ward 6 candidate for Edmonton City Council in the 2013 election, and served as an elected Trustee on the Edmonton Public School Board from 2010-2013. In addition to her political work, Heather holds a master’s degree in international development and a wealth of experience in community organizing and advocate.

Christel Hyshka
Christel Hyshka has managed or taken on a leadership role in political campaigns at all levels of government. She has a decade of experience working in both municipal and provincial government, on both the political and administrative sides. Christel has served as a formal and informal advisor to elected officials and held titles such as Constituency Assistant, Caucus Researcher, Director of Housing, and Chief of Staff to the Minister of Health. Christel has undertaken formal campaign training through both American and Canadian non-profit political organizations and taught campaign college classes covering several different areas of campaign management.

Christel has a Master’s Degree in Political Science from Carleton University in Ottawa. She currently works as a Senior Consultant for Berlin Communications, where she leads public affairs and strategic communications work.

Janelle MorinJanelle is an official in the Government of Alberta. Bio to come! Please note the LOCATION CHANGE: Councillor’s Board Room at City Hall

May 11: Women, Diversity and Politics

Rabia Naseer will showcase the benefits that diverse political representation can bring to our communities and how we can support each other in our goal to see more diverse women elected to office. Rabia completed her Masters Degree in Educational Policy Studies from the University of Alberta. She works with the Government of Alberta Human Services Ministry as an Analyst with Child and Family Services. She is a Muslim woman wearing hijab who is actively engaged in her community. She is also the membership director and active member of the Paragon Toastmasters Club. Recently she was one of the mentees in the City of Edmonton Opening the Potential Mentee program with Councillor Oshry. The program seeks to encourage young women of diverse backgrounds to enter municipal politics. She has been involved with the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights on numerous projects and was awarded the Human Rights Award and Anti Racism Award for her work.

Deputy Minister of the Status of Women, Kim Armstrong, has graciously agreed to talk on women in leadership and the ways in which women can further their own leadership skills. This special event will be taking place on Saturday, June 4th at ATB Place from 9:00AM to 12:00PM. Coffee and snacks will be provided

June 8: The How – Keys to a Successful Campaign (Speakers to be announced)

July 13: The What – Platform and Policy Development (Speakers to be announced)

August 10: The Oh-Boy – Dealing with the Media and Social Media (Speakers to be announced)

We love putting on events that bring our committed community of women and men together. All of our events for the next year and half will focus on encouraging and supporting gender parity in Edmonton’s 2017 municipal election.

Past events

April 13: The Why – Lean All the Way into Running for Office

Lisa Holmes was elected to serve the community of Morinville, Alberta as a Councillor in 2010 and as Mayor in 2013.

In 2013, she was elected as the AUMA Board Member representing the area of Towns East. In September 2015, she was acclaimed President of AUMA for a two year term.

Before entering political life, Lisa did her post-secondary studies in Political Science and Economics and worked for several non-profit organizations like Ducks Unlimited Canada, the Alberta Library Trustees Association and the Alberta Teachers Association. She grew up in the farming town of Hanna, Alberta and the beautiful city of Salmon Arm, BC. Her and her husband Thomas have two sons, 8 and 12 years old.

Yegparity.ca Launch

We hosted a great launch party on January 27, 2016 for our new website yegparity.ca. The idea behind the initiative is to have 50 percent of all Edmonton City Council and School Board Trustee candidates be women in the 2017 Edmonton Municipal Election.

We had support from members, women who are running and have run for public office, community leaders, city councillors, school board trustees, media…the list goes on! We are so thankful to all the amazing women and men of yeg that came out to support us.

By joining Equal Voice Alberta North you are ensuring that we can continue to host networking events, share important resources and encourage more women to run for office! If you are part of an association or business and would like to support us, event sponsorship opportunities are available.

If you haven’t already, please take the time to join Equal Voice’s Alberta North Chapter.

If you have questions, comments or want to know more about us, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.